Fading Shadows
by Wolfiy
Summary: What happens when you die...twice?
1. Awakening

He woke up with a start. His aqua blue eyes blinked, and he tried to remember something…anything. Nothing was coming to him, so he tried to think of the present. He was cold. Dead, almost. But looking at the sky, he realized it was very warm and nothing seemed to cloud over the sun, so that was still a questionable aspect. Next, something warm and sticky was clotting his fur. He looked down and noticed a crimson wet substance steadily flowing from his throat, and…_blood. _That's what it was called. Suddenly, the field he was lying in had disappeared and in its place was a large canyon. At the bottom of the canyon, was him and a cat that look vaguely similar to him, but he couldn't place the other cat's name. Suddenly, the similar one leaped and bit him on the throat, and blood began to well up around the bite. One final yowl and the vision faded back to the field.

Suddenly, his chest began to hurt, and it continued to get worse until he couldn't stand it anymore. His jaws parted themselves and sucked in mouthfuls of air, and he soon remembered what that was called: Breathing. So, he sucked in as much air as he could and knew what he had to do next. Get up, and find help. The blood was still trickling out of him and for some reason; he had a feeling that if he lost too much blood, it would be fatal. So, he carefully put pressure on one front paw and pushed himself up, and quickly put down his opposite front paw to steady himself. His back legs lied limp behind him and he pushed them up, making him stand, but shakily. Impulsively he put one paw slowly in front of him, then the next one. His back legs followed, and slowly but sturdily he was walking forward. Each step made his stomach ache in pain, causing more blood to leak out of him. He quickly remembered that there was something called "running" and he should do it. Right now.

He sped up his paw steps and was soon flying across the dirt ground, leaving a trail of red behind him. Soon, he'd stumbled into what looked be a meeting of some sort, with cats. Everyone was intently fixated on a tree when he'd stumbled in, collapsing at the base of the tree. Most of the cats gasped, and one in particular looked especially in shock at seeing a dying cat slump into their meeting. She rushed up to him, and he noticed her right away. She looked very familiar…she rushed over to him, her voice hoarse and utterly surprised. "My name…my name is Mothwing." His mind clicked. Mothwing! "What's your name?" He searched his mind thoroughly and found a few things related to "name". Traitor, friend, brother, warrior, deputy…abruptly, as sudden as the bone-chilling winter hit the cool days of autumn, his name flew through his mind and hit him hard. "Hawkfrost."


	2. Remembering

Mothwing's eyes widened and she was quick to say, "d-d do you mean you have a father named Hawkfrost?" _Did he have kits? That must have been the answer. _Hawkfrost shook his head. "No. I think that I had a "father" named Tigerstar…and my mother…Sasha?" Mothwing's throat closed. "That's funny." She laughed slightly, trying to rid the thought that Hawkfrost was here and now. "I have a brother named Hawkfrost who looks just like you but…he's dead." She confirmed herself. "He was killed by his brother Brambleclaw, and he's gone." _Brambleclaw. _The name seemed to slap Hawkfrost in the face. His lips curled in a snarl, but he wasn't positively sure why. It soon came to him that the reason he was cut open in that strange forest was because of…_Brambleclaw._

"I'm sorry to end this conversation, it's riveting, really, but I'm bleeding to death at the moment…" Hawkfrost said surprisingly blunt sounding. "Oh, right." Mothwing stammered, and hustled Hawkfrost over to the corner. A cat sitting the tree yelled, "Shadowclan, the meeting is over. Clear out!" And soon, three other cats repeated the same thing but instead of Shadowclan, said Windclan, Thunderclan and finally Riverclan. The name rang in Hawkfrost's ears. "Did we live in Riverclan?" Hawkfrost asked Mothwing skeptically. Mothwing nodded distractedly, as she looked like she was busy smearing herbs onto Hawkfrost's wounds. She handed him a few seeds, and once Hawkfrost ate them, he was out cold.

Hawkfrost woke up and found himself sprawled out on a pile of moss, his wound clotted with dressing and bandages. "Where am I?" He groaned. Mothwing was leaning over him, her eyes clouded with worry and confusion. "You're awake. Good." Hawkfrost sat up and said, "yeah, sure. Now I have questions…a lot." Mothwing smiled slightly. "Well. I just saw my dead brother stumble into our Gathering. I have a few questions as well." Hawkfrost nodded. "Fair enough. First of all, where is this "Brambleclaw" now?" Mothwing looked reluctant, but answered quickly. "Correction: Bramblestar. The past leader died and then he stepped in."

"Did I like Brambleclaw?"

"Er…no. You tried to kill him but he beat you too it."

"Oh. Why do I remember a shady forest then?"

"After you died, you went there. And then once you arrived there, you were killed. Again."

"By who?"

Mothwing swallowed hard. "Brambleclaw."

"Oh, and another question-"

"No, wait. It's my turn."

"Ask away."

"Why are you here?"

"After I was killed by this "Brambleclaw" a second time, I guess I was reborn in this field. Don't ask me how. Okay, my turn."

"Fine."

"Why did I try to kill Brambleclaw?"

"Greed. You wanted to rule the forest, so you tried to kill the current leader."

"Last question."

"I'm all ears."

"Where is Bramblestar?"


	3. Murdering

Mothwing shook her head. "That would end drastically. You may be _my _brother, but to Brambleclaw, you're dead and always will be." Hawkfrost's mind clicked. "Thunderclan! That's where he is!" Hawkfrost struggled to his feet and bounded out of the den he was in, suddenly remembering his sister who had just saved him. "Thank you for saving me, Mothwing." Mothwing yelled back worriedly, "you're welcome. Please don't do anything reckless…" but Hawkfrost didn't hear the rest of her sentence as he darted away, looking for Thunderclan. And his brother.

Hawkfrost arrived at Thunderclan camp a day later, his head held high in pride of finding the camp and his mackerel striped tail flicking. Bramblestar looked at Hawkfrost, his amber eyes flickering with fear, confusion and clear recognition. "Hawk…" He couldn't finish the sentence. "I mean, who are you?" It was an obvious lie. Bramblestar knew exactly who Hawkfrost was. "Hawkfrost, I mean, you should remember me…brother." Bramblestar raised her head. "You are not my brother, but I will accept you as a warrior of my clan." Hawkfrost smiled. _You are right Bramblestar. I am not your brother. At least, you won't be when you're dead._

-Six moons later-

"I say these words before Starclan that the spirits of our warrior ancestors may hear and approve of my choice. The new deputy of Thunderclan is Hawkfrost." Bramblestar yowled. That day, Squirrelflight had mysteriously died. Over the past six moons, all of the best warriors of Thunderclan have perished. Hawkfrost innocently pointed out that he was the most loyal warrior left and reluctantly, Bramblestar made him deputy. No one disagreed, for they had no idea of Hawkfrost's past attempts at murder. Bramblestar leaped down from the Highrock, where Hawkfrost was left standing. One moon later, he slipped out of camp and came back with nine deathberries tucked away in his paws.


End file.
